Tamper proof enclosure for flush valves



Dec. 13, 1966 c. w. SLOA N 3,291,148

I TAMPER PROOF ENCLOSURE FOR FLUSH VALVES Filed Feb. 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOK C. WILLIAM SLOAN ATTORNEY Dec. 13, 1966 c. w. SLOAN TAMPER PROOF ENCLOSURE FOR FLUSH VALVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1964 INVENTOK C. WILLIAM SLOAN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,291,148 TAMPER PROOF ENCLOSURE FOR FLUSH VALVES Charles William Sloan, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada, as-

signor to Josam Products Limited, Toronto, Ontario,

Canada, a corporation of Ontario Filed Feb. 19, 1%4, Ser. No. 346,009 3 Claims. (Cl. 137382) This invention relates in general to flush valves and more specifically to a casing or enclosure therefor in which the valve is housed.

One problem which arises in the manufacture of flush valves is in respect of the chromium plating stage. Due to the highly irregular shape of the valve bodies, difficulty is experienced in adequately cleaning the valve bodies preparatory to plating and the net result is a high proportion of rejects leading to excessive production costs.

Further, despite the fact that the valve units are chromium plated, they present a generally poor appearance aesthetically speaking not only because of their irregular shape but also because of the presence of condensation and the consequent sweating of the body which in humid weather causes dripping.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel, sectional casing for flush valves which is simple and economic to manufacture, aesthetically pleasing to the eye and which obviates the necessity of chromium plating the valve body thus decreasing production costs by eliminating the major source of factory rejection. Such a casing also insulates the valve body from the atmosphere and thus removes the sweating problem.

A further objection to the flush valves presently in use is that when they are employed in public lavatories, they are completely open and unprotected against tampering. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a casing or enclosure in which the valve body is enclosed to conceal same.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive concealed locking means at one end of the novel casing sections while securing the other end of the casing sections by fastening means, manipulating tools for which are not normally carried by people making use of such publicly situated conveniences.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide casing locking means on a lower casing portion which is eifective to co-operate with the normal connecting means used in connecting the outlet conduit to the valve body.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects are attained will be readily understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the casing assembled.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the assembled casing.

FIG. 3 is a rear end view of the assembled casing.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the casing.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the casing and valve body.

FIG. -6 is a perspective partial view of the casing in position and locked on the valve body.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the rear portions of the casing sections showing an embodiment of the concealed latching or locking means.

As shown in FIG. 1, the casing embodiment chosen for illustrative purposes covers a flush valve assembly of the type having a main valve body generally designated by the numeral 1 from which projects actuating-handle mounting means 2.

The valve assembly further includes fluid passage means 3 interconnecting a flow adjustment chamber 4 with the main valve body 1. One side of the chamber 4 is adapted 3,291,148 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 to accept an inlet conduit 5 while the other side of chamber 4 is designed to permit setting of the flow adjusting means through provision of a screw-driver access hole 6 formed in said chamber 4.

As seen with further reference to the drawings the main valve body ll has a threaded portion 7 for the purpose of connecting outlet conduit 8 thereto by means of a nut 9.

Similarly, the actuating-handle mounting means 2 is threaded as at 10 for a purpose to be described later herein. The actuating-handle is indicated by the reference number 2a.

It is noted that the valve assembly per se forms no part of the instant invention and is merely used to illustrate one embodiment of the novel casing means. It will be obvious to those persons skilled in the art that, within the scope of this disclosure, the casing may be varied to suit other types and configurations of valve assemblies.

With further reference to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the novel casing or enclosure comprises an upper casing portion 11 and a lower casing portion 12 so shaped that when the two portions are brought together the valve body will be enclosed therein.

The upper casing portion 11 has a configuration such as to substantially follow the general contour of the upper portion of the valve assembly, although any suitable desired shape may be used.

In the embodiment shown, casing portion 11 has a dome-like section 12 at its front end to encompass the upper portion of main valve body 1 along a horizontal line which bisects the handle-mounting means 2 and this dome blends smoothly into an extended, concavo-convex section 113 terminated at the rear end by a downwardly curved wall portion 14. At the side of and adjacent a rear corner of section 13, a raised boss section 15 is provided to encompass one side of the chamber 4 and provide an opening for the inlet conduit 5.

A semi-circular cut-out 16 is formed in the front, lower portion of the dome-like section 12 and is surrounded by a semi-circular, annular collar 17 the purpose of which will be explained as the description proceeds.

The rim 18 of upper casing portion 11 registers with the rim 19 of the lower casing portion 12 and in order to effect and facilitate alignment, integral pins 20 are provided in spaced relation about rim 18 while registering pin holes Zita are provided in rim 19.

The lower casing portion 12 is also of concavo-convex design and is adapted to blend smoothly with the curvature of the upper mating casing portion 11.

At the front end, casing portion 12 is formed with a semi-circular cut-out 16a with a surrounding semi-circular, annular collar 17a such that on placing the casing portions 11 and 12 together to enclose the valve body the cut-outs 16 and 16a form a hole through which projects the actuating-handle 2a and mounting means 2. Further, the annular collar portions 17 and 17a form a complete, outwardly projecting, annular ring, the purpose of which will be later described herein.

Adjacent the front end of the lower casing portion 12 is located an inverted L-shaped collar 21 defining an opening through which threaded portion 7 of valve body 1 projects. Collar 21 presents a shoulder 22 upon which the valve body 1 is seated.

At the rear of easing portion 12 an integral and upstanding curved wall portion 23 is located while adjacent to wall portion 23 and in one side of easing portion 12 corresponding to the side location of boss section 15 in upper casing portion 11 a cut-out 24 is formed to permit connection of inlet conduit 5 to chamber 4.

Turning to FIG. 7 details of the concealed latching or inter-locking means hereinbefore noted will be seen.

The said concealed locking means comprises an inwardly directed integral lug 25 formed on the wall portion 14 positioned to engage with an outwardly facing recess 26 formed in wall portion 23. It is obvious of course that this locking means could be varied considerably, for instance, the relative positions of the lug and recess on the respective casing portions may be reversed or the lug may be integrally cast or otherwise formed in an outwardly directed manner, the recess opening inwardly of the casing portion with which it is associated. The orientation of lug and recess becomes a matter of production facility. In addition to these variations, there are of course numerous known types of concealed locking or latching means which may be substituted for that disclosed herein including releasable and non-releasable hinge expedients.

In assembling the casing portions around a flush valve, the lower casing portion 12 is positioned as shown in FIG. 5 with the shoulder 22 in abutting relationship with the valve body 1. Threaded portion 7 of the valve body thus projects through the lower casing portion 12 and outlet conduit 8 is then connected in known manner to the said valve body by the nut 9. It will be noted that nut 9 is provided with an upper shoulder 27 and in connecting the outlet conduit to the valve body, shoulder 27 clamps the shoulder 22 against the valve body thus securing or clamping the lower casing portion in position.

Upper casing portion 11 is then positioned over the lower portion 12 by insertion of lug 25 in recess 26, The pins 20 then locate in recesses 20a to ensure relative alignment of the casing portions and as before mentioned, cutouts 16 and 16a encompass the actuating-handle mounting means while annular collar portions 17 and 1711 form a complete annular ring around said mounting means.

In order to completely lock the upper casing portion to the lower portion, a nut 28 having an internal shoulder 29 is screwed onto threaded portion of the handle mounting means 2 and shoulder 29 receives and cooperates with the aforementioned annular ring to secure the casing portions in valve enclosing relationship.

Nuts 9 and 28 are of course subjected to a torque calculated to obviate release by hand and it is not usual for members of the public to carry on their persons the tools required to remove such nuts.

It will be appreciated that instead of securing the lower casing portion to the valve body and outlet conduit as illustrated in the preferred embodiment, the locking expedient used in co-operation with the front ends of the casing portions could also be used in securing the casing portions between one side of the chamber 4 and the inlet conduit while leaving an opening in the bottom of the lower casing portion to accommodate the outlet pipe.

A further alternative is to provide a casing comprising a pair of laterally opposed casing portions. This would entail securing one side casing portion between the inlet conduit and the chamber 4 in the same manner as the preferred illustrated embodiment reveals connection of the lower casing portion to the valve body and outlet conduit.

A still further alternative would be to utilize the concealed inter-locking means (25 and 26) and the nut 28 alone to secure the casing portions in position providing clearance holes in appropriate areas of the casing portions for passage therethrough of the inlet and outlet conduits.

In some applications it may be desired to provide ready access to the flow adjusting means and for this purpose,

cut-outs may be provided as at 30 for reception of a small, snap-in or other suitable type of cover 31.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a tamper proof casing or enclosure structure has been set forth fulfilling all the objects aforestated, however, it is pointed out that the embodiment disclosed is illustrative only and applicant wishes to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. For a flush valve for a water flushing system having a valve body with a tubular threaded inlet connection, and a tubular threaded outlet connection lying in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the inlet connection, a discharge pipe connectable to said outlet connection by a pipe union, a valve mechanism housed in said body between said inlet and outlet connections, a valve actuating member extending outwardly from the body, and a mounting for said valve actuating member carried by said body, the invention herein defined comprising a shell divided longitudinally into an upper shell portion and a lower shell portion, said shells having mating rims arranged and adapted to be brought together to form a unitary casing housing said valve, said lower shell portion having an opening for the outlet connection and a flange around said opening engageable between said union and the valve body adjacent said outlet connection whereby said lower shell portion is secured to and supported by said valve body, complemental interengaging fastening means carried by the rims, complemental recesses in the rims of the upper and lower shell portion forming an opening for said mounting and for said inlet pipe, one of said openings having a collar formed by complemental portions formed on the upper and lower shell portions and a removable locking member engaging said collar and said valve body, said locking member and the interengaging fastening means cooperating to retain the casing as a unitary assembly and secure it to the valve body.

2. A casing for housing a flush valve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the complemental interengaging fastening means are located at one end of said casing opposite to the collared recess and comprise a recess formed adjacent one rim and a projection carried adjacent the other rim.

3. A casing for housing a flush valve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said locking member comprises a nut threaded onto said mounting, said locking member having a skirt which encompasses and retains said collars in mating, Locked relationship and in engagement with said valve ody.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 748,720 1/1904 Glazier 137-382 X 990,784 4/1911 Schlotborn 137-337 1,480,852 1/1924 Burke 137375 1,499,562 7/1924 Tampier 137-375 1,833,924 12/1931 Wayer 137.382 1,885,939 11/1932 Miller 137382 FOREIGN PATENTS 543,166 5/1922 France.

M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner. HENRY T. KLINKSIEK, Examiner. 

1. FOR A FLUSH VALVE FOR A WATER FLUSHING SYSTEM HAVING A VALVE BODY WITH A TUBULAR THREADED INLET CONNECTION, AND A TUBULAR THREADED OUTLET CONNECTION LYING IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE INLET CONNECTION, A DISCHARGE PIPE CONNECTABLE TO SAID OUTLET CONNECTION BY A PIPE UNION, A VALVE MECHANISM HOUSE IN SAID BODY BETWEEN SAID INLET AND OUTLET CONNECTIONS, VALVE ACTUATING MEMBER EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE BODY, AND A MOUNTING FOR SAID VALVE ACTUATING MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID BODY, THE INVENTION HEREIN DEFINED COMPRISING A SHELL DIVIDED LONGITUDINALLY INTO AN UPPER SHELL PORTION AND A LOWER SHELL PORTION, SAID SHELLS HAVING MATING MATING RIMS ARRANGED AND ADAPTED TO BE BROUGH TOGETHER TO FORM A UNITARY CASING HOUSING SAID VALVE, SAID LOWER SHELL PORTION HAVING AN OPENING FOR THE OUTLET CONNECTION AND A FLANGE AROUND SAID OPENING EN GAGEABLE BETWEEN SAID UNION AND THE VALVE BODY ADJACENT SAID OUTLET CONNECTION WHEREBY SAID LOWER SHELL PORTION IS SECURED TO AND SUPPORTED BY SAID VALVE BODY, COMPLEMENTAL INTERENGAGING FASTENING MEANS CARRIED BY THE RIMS, COMPLEMENTAL RECESSES IN THE RIMS OF THE UPPER AND LOWER SHELL PORTION FORMING AN OPENING FOR SAID MOUNTING AND FOR SAID INLET PIPE, ONE OF SAID OPENING HAVING A COLLAR FORMED BY COMPLEMENTAL PORTIONS FORMED ON THE UPPER AND LOWER SHELL PORTIONS AND A REMOVABLE LOCKING MEMBER ENGAGING SAID COLLAR AND SAID VALVE BODY, SAID LOCKING MEMBER AND THE INTERENGAGING FASTENING MEANS COOPERATING TO RETAIN THE CASING AS A UNITARY ASSEMBLY AND SECURE IT TO THE VALVE BODY. 